Let's discover the Bella Lodi brand: here is our interview

In the heart of the Po Valley, in Lodi, the story of Pozzali Lodigrana was born. It was here that in 1947 three young brothers decided to start a business in the dairy sector and became entrepreneurs.

Their family has always been linked to agriculture and territory, and they decide to carry on this bond in their own way. Initially, the brothers set up their first dairy within their father's farm, and this is where they begin to transform milk, the result of their production and that of some nearby farms. Immediately the dairy is a great success.
About ten years later, in 1958, the second son Giovanni Pozzali inaugurated the new cheese factory in Casaletto Ceredano, in the province of Cremona, a few kilometers away from Lodi.
In the 90s, the company, which in the meantime became Lodigrana, grew and diversified, acquiring more and more experience and importance. In fact, the dairy perfects its food technology, which allows it to obtain quality and hygiene guarantees.
Lodigrana grew to the launch of the dairy specialty that translates this family story into flavor: Bella Lodi, a sincere tribute to the millenary past of the Lodi region. After innovations and expansions, the plant stands out in the Italian dairy sector.

The key element that distinguishes Bella Lodi is precisely tradition. One of the most typical and traditional products of this company is Raspadura Bella Lodi, which re-proposes the ancient technique of “rasp”, a way of serving cheese presenting it as very thin sheets, scraped with a particular long knife.

We like these realities, these producers of unique, certified and award-winning delicacies: they are real treasures embedded in our Peninsula between seas and mountains and in the most remote streets of villages and countryside. We don't stop to experience only their products, but we want to discover more closely the protagonists of this brand. That's why we sent some questions to those who manage communication with us.

Stay with us and get to know Lodigrana Bella Lodi: read the answers!

• Who are we talking to?
  I'm Marco Montemezzani, Marketing Manager.
  
• Is the company family run? For how many generations and from what year exactly?
  Yes, for 3 generations, exactly since 1947.
  
• Who was the founder and what was his training or what is the branch of work and professional from which he came if different from the current one?
  Our story began in Lodi in 1947, the year in which three young brothers who were graduating shortly thereafter in Milan decided to become entrepreneurs in the dairy sector. Inside their father's farm, they structure their first dairy to transform the milk they produce and some surrounding farmhouses.
  In 1958 the second son, the architect Giovanni Pozzali, inaugurated the new cheese factory a few kilometers from Lodi, in Casaletto Ceredano (CR).
  
• What is the real reason or the triggering fact behind the birth of this company and when did it happen?
  In the 90s, the company, now Pozzali Lodigrana, grew and diversified until the launch of the dairy specialty that translated this family history into flavor: Bella Lodi, a sincere tribute to the millenary past of the Lodi region.
  
• What is your relationship with the land of origin and its typicality? And why do you want to tell them with your products?
  Granone Lodigiano is considered the founder of all “grana” cheeses.
  It was famous for having a black crust like the shapes on which the Madonna of the Sanctuary of our country sits, which is about 1 km from the Cerreto Abbey where the monks started these productions; it is natural that we have continued the tradition of a dairy specialty that is now recognized as PAT (Traditional Agri-Food Product), one of the jewels of the Italian gastronomic tradition.
  
• What was the first product you created?
  The Bella Lodi Classico black crust.
  
• What is the product that today, on the other hand, do you consider “top”?
  Raspadura Bella Lodi, is another typical product of tradition and has no equal, made completely by hand.
  
• And what is the product that in the entire history of the company has most carried with it the beating heart, philosophy and soul of the company itself?
  Always the Bella Lodi Classico black crust.
  
• Let's talk about today: how big has the company grown since its inception? Can we get some numbers?
  It has not “grown”, it has always had quality as its first objective, so production is limited and follows strict rules and principles: zero km milk, natural outcrop of cream, selection of lactic ferments for a unique taste, manual spinning, copper boilers, pure linen canvases; production and seasoning are calibrated based on a constant, weekly, sensory analysis of a tasting group.
  
• Right now: more tradition or more innovation?
  50% and 50%: tradition, as I said above, is the dogma, while innovation has allowed us to certify the natural absence of lactose and to certify the supply chain.
  
• What was the most important evolution of the company to get it to what it is today?
  Pursue and keep its production quality unchanged.
  
• Speaking instead of the future: what tomorrow will the company wait for? Are there any changes or some new evolutionary process planned?
  We have recently adopted the use of 100% recyclable and 100% compostable packaging.
  
• Are you planning to create new products?
  Only if they are consistent with our philosophy linked to the highest quality and linked to our tradition.
  
• Having focused on Spaghetti
  S&M